Manchester United delays US share sale: report

26 Jul 2012 13:46:58

Manchester United has decided to delay listing in the United States owing to market volatility caused by the eurozone debt crisis, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The English Premier League giants have decided to delay meeting potential investors because of recent losses on US stock markets caused by events in Europe, the business daily said, citing people familiar with the situation.

The FT added that United had intended to begin its roadshow at the start of this week.

Neither United nor Jefferies -- the investment bank charged with heading the club's flotation -- were commenting on the report.

United, the most successful club in English football history and reputedly the best supported club in the world, filed papers in the United States earlier this month for an initial public share offering.

The papers gave a pro-forma amount of $100 million (82 million euros) as the target for the share issue, but recent reports about abortive attempts to list it in Hong Kong or Singapore said the owners had aimed to bring in $1.0 billion.

The team, controlled since 2005 by the Glazer family -- billionaire US sports investors -- has struggled in recent years with debts from the takeover despite its vast global fan base.

United fans have long protested at the Glazers' heavily leveraged takeover, arguing the debts loaded on to the club have steadily eroded its ability to compete for top talent in an ever-spiralling transfer market.